One Wareham teenager is helping the homeless during the recent economic downturn.

Jared Forrest, a 17-year-old working toward becoming an Eagle Scout, dropped off a carload of donations to Turning Point, a resource center for the town’s homeless or near-homeless community, on Wednesday Jan. 27.

Collecting the donations was a project that will get Forrest one step closer to the rank of Eagle Scout. He said he wanted his project to benefit Wareham’s homeless community because of the financial hardships many people are experiencing.

“The economy kind of seems like it’s in favor for richer people,” Forrest explained. “So I wanted to give poorer people a chance.”

He delivered the donations to Turning Point around noon on Wednesday, with help from his mom and another scout, 11-year-old Jonathan Dunn. 

Forrest and Dunn are both members of Boy Scout Troop 39 in Wareham who attend Rising Tide Charter Public School in Plymouth.

After a half day of school on Jan. 27, Forrest, Dunn, their family members and some workers from Turning Point unpacked an SUV that was filled to the brim with donations of all kinds. 

Forrest had collected a variety of necessities for people who are homeless or near homelessness, including tents, tarps, socks, gloves and toiletries. He spread the word that he was collecting donations using social media and also asked fellow scouts, friends and family members to donate what they could. 

Additionally, Target, Lowe’s, Home Depot and Go Bananas donated at Forrest’s request. 

“In a way, I kind of wasn’t the one doing most of this project,” he said. “Because these donations — they’re from a lot of people in the community who wanted to help. It’s a great thing.” 

The teenager emphasized his gratitude. 

“I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped,” he said. For a complete list of the people Forrest would like to thank, please see his letter to the editor.

Debbie Ito, Turning Point’s program coordinator, said donations the size of Forrest’s were “very rare” and would have a large impact. 

“It covers every need homeless folks could have,” Ito said. “The generosity of the community throughout this whole season — but with this to top it off — is just amazing.”

Ito pointed out that Forrest’s donations would also help the near-homeless in Wareham.

“Folks that are struggling to pay bills, a lot of the toiletries and stuff will help out for them too,” Ito said.

Brandon Reynolds, a housing case manager with Father Bill’s and Mainspring — another organization that works with the homeless and formerly homeless out of the same office as Turning Point — helped unload Forrest’s donations. He said the tents in particular were a great donation. 

“When someone is totally out of options, in the time being they need to have some sort of protection,” Reynolds explained. Sleeping bags and tents are donations that “come in and go out” very fast at Turning Point, he said.

Reynolds said it was great to see the community pitching in. 

“In a year like this where the seasonal shelter was closed [...] you worry that people have forgotten,” he said. “But when you see something like this put together, you know that they’re not. People want to help.”